Barnes & Noble

A dreamy romance set against the harsh realities of World War II, Captain Corelli's Mandolin demonstrates that love can flourish in the most difficult times and under the most unusual circumstances. Nicolas Cage portrays the eponymous officer, an Italian captain whose company occupies a small, picturesque, and strategically important Greek isle while its Nazi allies prosecute the war elsewhere. Reluctantly housed by the island's coyly antagonistic doctor (John Hurt, in top form), Corelli gradually falls in love with the physician's educated, strong-willed daughter (the luminous Penelope Cruz), whose fisherman fiancé (an oddly cast but nonetheless effective Christian Bale) has left his village to join the resisting Greek army. Of necessity, Shawn Slovo's screen adaptation condenses and simplifies Louis de Berniere's bestselling novel, stripping away much of the lengthy book's detail and texture. But director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) maintains the narrative's integrity and preserves the delicacy with which the pivotal affair evolves. Luxuriously photographed in beautiful locations, enacted with restraint and subtlety by a talented cast, Mandolin succeeds admirably in conveying the powerful emotions generated by a star-crossed romance in turbulent times. The DVD features a feature-length commentary by Madden, deleted scenes, a music video, and production notes. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Louis de Bernieres' best-selling novel of love during wartime is brought to the screen in this story that blends comedy, action, and romance. In 1940, war rages throughout Europe, but the fighting has yet to arrive on the Greek island of Cephallonia, where life continues to follow its own slow, deliberate path until word arrives that Italian troops have invaded neighboring Albania. A wave of anti-Axis patriotism sweeps the island, and Mandras (Christian Bale), a local fisherman, is one of a handful of men who volunteer for the Army, leaving behind his aging mother (Irene Pappas) and the woman he loves, Pelagia (Penelope Cruz), the daughter of the island's physician, Dr. Iannis (John Hurt). The timing of Mandras and his compatriots proves less than fortuitous, as Italian troops invade Greece in their absence, but the remaining leaders of the island issue an ultimatum -- the people of Cephallonia will surrender, but only to a ranking German officer. Since none of the available German officers can speak a word of Greek, an Italian soldier fluent in the language, Capt. Antonio Corelli (Nicholas Cage), is sent in to serve as translator. Corelli stays on with the Greek occupation forces, and he soon finds himself falling in love with beautiful Pelagia, who believes that Mandras was killed in the fighting in Albania. But as romance slowly blooms between the Italian soldier and the Greek girl, Mandras and a handful of surviving soldiers have joined a guerilla resistance faction, and they join up with Allied forces in a bid to retake Greece; soon, Pelagia must choose between the two men she loves, as the Greeks battle both the Italian occupation troops and German soldiers who have been sent in to replace them. Captain Corelli's Mandolin was directed by John Madden; the project originally began shooting with Roger Michell, but Michell was forced to resign from the film after he suffered a heart attack. Mark Deming

Hollywood Reporter

Comes engagingly close to being the assured romantic epic you would want it to be. Mark Adams

Product Details

• UPC: 025192137822
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 2:09:00
• Sales Rank: 14,438

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